Shakin' Stevens at Middlesbrough Town Hall

Shakin' Stevens

Middlesbrough Town Hall

21.3.2019

Shakin' Stevens was a very welcome visitor to Teesside and another significant addition to Middlesbrough Town Hall's impressive revitalisation. The Specials, UB40 and Adam Ant will all be there before the year is out but last week the spotlight shone firmly on the inimitable Shaky.

He had a lot of success back in the 1980s, when few were still daring to fly the flag for rock 'n' roll, but his fortunes have fluctuated since the days of his prime. Nine years ago he suffered a heart attack but thankfully he made a full recovery. His 2016 album, the introspective Echoes of Our Times, was far removed from his earlier work and offered unusual depth. It formed the core of his repertoire when I saw him on tour two years ago at York's Barbican.

Several strong songs from Echoes of Our Times - including Suffer Little Children, The Fire in her Blood and Last Man Alive have been retained for the current tour, which delivers on its promise to perform all the Greatest Hits...and More! He certainly went through the card for the packed venue, rattling through 26 songs (with a mid-session break). He doesn't dance quite like he used to but certainly well enough for a man who had just turned 71.

Shaky still has plenty of gravitas when he takes to the stage, despite dressing in a black suit instead of his former trademark denims. Together with a nine-strong band and backdrop videos, this is a real show and it proved to be a real crowd-pleaser. The obvious songs brought the most reaction and dancing and these included Letter to You, You Drive Me Crazy, Marie Marie/Julie (the one segued to the other), Lipstick, Powder and Paint and Green Door. There was still one big-hitter missing as the second half closed and sure enough the encore featured a great version of This Ol' House, followed immediately with the finale of Fire Down Below. There was, however, no sign of Merry Christmas Everyone.

All in all, it was an excellent evening's entertainment.

Vonda Shepard & Sharon Corr at the Sage

Vonda Shepard and Sharon Corr

The Sage, Gateshead

10.3.2019

My quest for entertainment took me back to The Sage, for the first time since early November 2018.

Two big-hitters, who had been promising each other they would one day pout together a 'two-girl' tour, finally hit the road after six years of planning.

Vonda Shepard and Sharon Corr apparently flip a coin each night to see who will start the show. This time, Sharon was first on. They then played for an hour or so each, sharing the stage for a couple of songs per set, before delivering a double-barrelled encore.

The show as in the smaller of the two Sage halls, giving the gig a very intimate atmosphere, further enhanced by a central seat on the front row.

They were both excellent in their own right - with great stage presence - but the most memorable moments were definitely when they appeared on stage together for the duets. Highlights included the cover versions of You Belong to Me, Dreams, Weather With You and You've Got a Friend plus, of course, two songs from the Corrs: Radio and So Young.

Backed by a highly experienced and very tight band, the two stars put on a show to remember and they were clearly having such a great time together that I can't help feeling they will be back for another tour in the not-too-distant future. Let's hope so.

The Cureheads and Siouxsie and the Budgies at the Georgian Theatre

The Cureheads and Siouxsie and the Budgies
The Georgian Theatre, Stockton
8.3.2019

Two Goth tribute bands lit up an otherwise wet and windy Friday night in Stockton, as The Georgian Theatre continued to go out of their way to provide a diverse programme of entertainment.

Siouxsie and the Budgies were first on and they played an excellent 11-song set, featuring everything one would expect to hear from the repertoire of Siouxsie Soux and the Banshees, including Hong Kong Garden, Christine, Arabian Knights, Happy House and Spellbound. There was even a version of Iggy Pop's The Passenger, which broke the last of the ice between stage and audience, enticing the pack to advance to the edge of the stage.

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The hall was packed out and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Lets face it: tribute bands can be very variable in terms of quality and audience endurance (I used to avoid them, but T-Rextasy and Ultimate Bowie led to a personal conversion), but both of these hit the mark in style. When The Cureheads hit the stage, the audience was more than a little warmed up and the party atmosphere went into full swing.

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I have to confess I have always liked Siouxsie Soux and the Banshees considerably more than The Cure, but that didn't stop me thoroughly enjoying the hard work of both bands on this evening.

The Cureheads played 21 songs, with all the usual suspects (Close to Me, Lovesong, Pictures of You, Just Like Heaven et al) well to the fore. There was also a late-in-set medley, including Firestarter (in tribute to the recently deceased Keith Flint) and various snippets from Blackstar (in tribute to 2016's serious loss).

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Boys Don't Cry and Killing an Arab proved to be perfect closers, with 'Siouxsie' jumping back onto the stage to shake a tambourine and just about everything else to add to the fun.

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It was a very entertaining evening (a long one too; 11.30 p.m. finish) and a fine Cure to a very busy week.

Follow the news and tour dates at the official websites for The Cureheads and  Siouxsie and the Budgies.

Freya Ridings at Newcastle University

Freya Ridings

Newcastle University

5.3.2019

Freya Ridings is not such a household name as yet - although the ongoing airplay granted to Lost Without You is creating quite a stir. She is, however, one of a rising number of excellent young singer/songwriters who deserve to be much better known. In Freya's case, I am convinced it will not take very much longer at all.

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The venue was the basement of a university building. No seats, just one sizable mosh. The temperature started to rise once everyone cornflaked their way forward and it soon became almost uncomfortably hot, especially when people tried to squeeze themselves in front of others where the gaps were merely illusory.

None of that mattered, of course, once Freya Ridings and the band took to the stage. She has presence, style, a remarkable set of songs and, of course, her highly distinctive and powerful voice.

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The audience demographic was similar to when I saw Gabrielle Aplin at ULU in October, 2017; I was one of the oldest there too, but by no means the only person over 20.

It is strange to think Freya's debut album has yet to be released; it is due on 31 May. So far there have been a couple of singles and two limited edition live albums, making her new album one of the most highly anticipated of 2019.

The set list is strong but will need more material to grow the show's length by another 30 minutes. Love is Fire proved to be a very powerful opener and the excited crowd was quick to show approval. New single You Mean the World to Me appeared early on. Wishbone and Ultraviolet were standouts too, with the latter ostensibly closing the show - but there was, of course, an encore to come. Now it was really was time for Lost Without You, which was swiftly followed by an excellent Holy Water.

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This was her first-ever visit to Newcastle, marking the midpoint if a UK tour that has sold out on every date (14,000 tickets in total). Her reputation is growing and it will not be long before much larger venues are required.

Soon enough she will be playing to audiences far larger than the basement of a university building, but this is precisely the sort of gig that stays in the memory the longest. It will be very interesting to see just how far Freya Ridings can go.

Follow the news and tour dates over at the official Freya Ridings website.

Showaddywaddy at the Billingham Forum Theatre

Showaddywaddy
Billingham Forum Theatre
2 March 2019

A long and extremely busy week requires a remedy of sorts and it came in the form of a cup of tea and an evening of good old Rock ‘n’ Roll.

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Step forward Showaddywaddy, with their perfectly timed return to Billingham. This was my fourth time seeing them at the Forum Theatre. There are not going to be surprises at a Showaddywaddy show, which is one of their strengths. 

A variety of coloured jackets – all changed at half-time to freshen up the rainbow – an excellent selection of classic songs we all know and love, a couple of new ones slipped in to promote their latest CD and a whole load of charisma from the characters on the stage.

The theatre was packed out and everyone was in a good mood. In the second half the shackles were off and many a seat was abandoned as people could not resist dancing any longer.

We had everything from Johnny B. Goode, Heartbeat and Summertime Blues through to A Night at Daddy Gees, Under the Moon of Love and Hey Rock and Roll.

Entertainment is always guaranteed when Showaddywaddy are in town. Follow their news and tour dates over at their official website.

Project 30: Semi-final Pairings

Following on from our round 2 report, which can be found here, we can now present an update on the results and the pairings for the semi-finals of both events.

I managed to overcome Sean Cassidy in the fourth and final game of our Rapidplay match but Rayelynn and Peter still need to complete their round 2 fixture.


KO Tournament

Rayelynn Posadas v Sean Marsh

Matt Jackman v John Garnett

Each of the rounds will feature one game played at the normal time limit (36 moves in 90 minutes followed by an extra 15 minutes on each clock to play to a finish). Colours will be decided immediately before the games in the usual fashion.

Drawn games will require a replay with colours reversed, which can be played at any time limit agreed by both opponents. If both players cannot reach agreement then the aforementioned timings will be used.


Rapidplay Match Championship

David Baillie v Sean Marsh

Matt jackman v Rayelynn Posadas or Peter Harker

The semi-final will feature six games with 30 minutes on each clock.

In the event of a 3-3 tie, the players will contest two five-minute games and keep on doing so if further scores of 1-1 are recorded.

The final will feature eight games, with all of these rounds following the same tiebreak method as the first round (if required).

The target date to complete all of the above is 31 May 2019.

Anita Harris at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium

Anita Harris

Princess Alexandra Auditorium

22.2.2019

2019 may have started slowly in terms of gigs, but February brought a resurgence of activity which will not diminish until the end of the year.

It is six years since Anita Harris was last on Teesside, when a storm led to a significant portion of the audience staying at home. There were considerably more people in the audience this time, which was good to see.

Anita, just four months shy of turning 77, put on a very entertaining and enjoyable evening, with songs and stories charting her career all the way from her very early days in Las Vegas and as a member of the Cliff Adams Singers ('Sing Something Simple' should ring bells to those readers of a certain age) up to her most recent appearances on reality TV shows, including Masterchef.

Along the way there were plenty of anecdotes about time spent with stars such as Harry Secombe, Dudley Moore, Tommy Cooper and David Nixon.

A repertoire embracing virtually everything from Burlington Bertie to Memory (from Cats) represents a very fine body of work. Anita is a hard-working and extremely glamorous lady, who always finds time, post-show, to chat with her fans.

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Tour dates and news can be found over at Anita's official website.